Of grandeur & deep emotional connect

Tribune correspondent Deepkamal Kaur and lensman Sarabjit Singh take you to a glorious establishment that has been laying the foundation for entry into the armed forces and preparing students for a life dedicated to the welfare and protection of the nation

Tribune Web Desk

Updated At : 01:33 PM Nov 20, 2020 IST

Housed in a palatial building of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala, Sainik School, Kapurthala, was inaugurated on July 8, 1961, by the then Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon with the objective of preparing boys academically, physically and mentally to join the NDA.

Named Jagatjit Palace, the structure was built in 1908 on the pattern of Versailles built by Louis XIV of France.

A view of the Smriti Sthal, which bears

the names of 15 bravehearts from the school.

Already housing 630 students from Punjab, Bihar, Ladakh and other states, the school is spread on a sprawling campus of nearly 200 acres. It is a fully residential school for boys providing public school education. It offers an array of opportunities to channel the energies of cadets for constructive purposes. A wide spectrum of extra-curricular activities ensures their multitudinous personality development. The school has been rendering yeoman service to the nation for over four decades by imparting balanced and quality education to cadets hailing from all strata of society. It has produced over 700 officers for the Indian armed forces through National Defence Academy. A sizeable number

of its alumni has made their mark in other respectable professions too! It is the only school among the 20 Sainik Schools that holds the record of holding the Defence Minister’s trophy continuously for seven years.

A statue of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh at the school garden.

Principal Col Prashant Saxena said: “The National Testing Agency will hold All-India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination (AISSEE)-2021 on January 10. The process of filling admission forms, which is currently on, will end on December 3. In Punjab, the exam will be conducted in Kapurthala, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Faridkot.”

The Subhash House hostel building would be converted as the girls’ hostel. The hostel building would be revamped by raising a boundary wall and some renovation work would be done through the PWD.

Sainik School, Kapurthala

Alumni who made their mark

Serving Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lieut-Gen Satinder Kumar Saini
Lieut-Gen Ranbir Singh, retired as GOC-in-C Northern Command
Lieut-Gen Ikroop Singh Ghumman, GOC-in-C Central Command
Lieut-Gen Gurmit Singh, former Corps Commander, Srinagar
Air Marshal NJS Dhillon, Commander-in-Chief Strategic Forces Command
Former Advocate General HS Mattewal
Brig MPS Bajwa, 001 roll number (fought Kargil War)
Maj Gen Lakhwinder Singh, who used Howitzer guns in Kargil War
Dr Sukhchain S Gill, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar
Rear Admiral Ranjit Kumar
Rajpal Sandhu, Commandant, PAP, and President Old Boys’ Assn
Phagwara-based businessman KK Sardana

(From top) A tank placed at the entrance of the school, which was donated by alumnus Maj Gen IP Singh in 2009 on behalf of the Army; surface-to-air missiles; and a MiG-23 are also kept at the entrance of the school. Both were presented by Air Marshal Anil Chopra, an alumnus, in 2011.

Ready to welcome girls! The school is set to undergo a major change with the admission of 10 girls on its campus from the coming session for the first time. Earlier, the only girls that studied here were the wards of the staff as day scholars. But the Sainik School Board has, from this year, directed all 32 Sainik Schools across India to allow 10 to 12 girls on the campus.

Flying Officer Simran Kaur Bajwa, daughter of a teacher, was the first girl from at Sainik School, Kapurthala, to join the IAF in 2017.

The dome of the dining hall inside the palatial building; and (right) a pattern of the emblem of Kapurthala royal dynasty in natural wood on the floor of the Darbar Hall.

The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees.

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The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).

Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia

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